Desk-drawer lock



A. SMI-Tom). DESK DRAWER LOCK. APPLICATION FILEDSEPLZZ, 1920.

Patented July H, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I. A. STAFFORD.

DESK DRAWER LOCK. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22. 1920.

Patented July M, R923 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

4 SHEE1 S-SHEET 3'.

)Patented July M, 1922:

l. A. STAFFORD.

. DESK DRAWER- LOCK. Y 'j APPLICATION FILED SEPT.22. 1920. 1.422,63 l

Abm.

. ...L .....I .v.

l. A. STAFFORD.

DESK DRAWER LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1920.

areY guided in apertures 29 in the pedestal legs 22. The outermost partof each of said push bars extends into its companion pedestal leg 22 andis provided in its lower edge with a vertical notch 30 which issuitably" beveled on its opposite faces. Each of theseV pivot notchesreceives the upper end of a rock arm or bar 3l (Fig. 2). secured to avertical rocking plate or member 32. Preferably, these plates areentirely housed and concealed within the front pedestal legs 22. Each ofthese plates is provided at its upper and lower ends with horizontalears or flanges 32a 4and 33, respectively, through A spring 37preferably of helical form which encircles the upper end` of the rockshaft 34 and is attached to same. p

Mounted on this shaft are a number of superimposed locking dogs 40 forthe -deskdrawers of various sizes or depths, one for each drawer, whichdogs are vertically adjustable onsaid shaft to accommodate variousdrawer arrangements, according to the fancy or particular needs of theuser.V `These dogs are horizontally disposed and extend rearwardly fromsaid shaft. To the lower Vside of each locking dog is preferablysecured, by spot welding or otherwise, a bracket plate or brace 41,which serves to give the dog afirm bearing upon Vsaid rock shaft.VInterposed between each of said bracket-plates 41 and the correspondinglocking dog is a torsion spring 42, one end of which is secured to orengages the locking dog while its'other -end engages a vertical flange43 formed at the forward edge of the rocking plate 32 and extendinglaterally and inwardly therefrom. vThe vertical rear edge of saidrocking plate has a similar vertical flange 44 which is provided lwith avertical row of horizontal retaining notches or slots 45, any onekofwhich is adapted to receive the free rear portion of the locking dogs40, as best shown inY Figs. 2 and 3, so as to hold the dog from verticaldisplacement on l YIthe rock shaftand the rocking plate 32. The

torsion spring-42 of each dog tends constantly to swing it against theinner end of the Vco-operating notch 45. To' shift one of the dogs fromone position to another posi- Ition (Fig. 2) it is merely necessary topress its free rear end outwardlyagainst theresistanceof the spring 42until the dog clears the respective notch 45, and'then bodily move thedog,'together with its spring 42 F 'and'bracket plate 41, tothel'desired new position, and finally4 interlock the dog with anotherone of the retaining notches 45.

Each of .these drawers 20 is provided at each of its sides with alongitudinal, channel-shaped slide bar 46 adapted to slide back andforth in a companion, longitudinal, channel-shaped drawer slide 47.@Each vof the latter is adapted to be removably engaged withanycompanion pair of blisters or apertured brackets 49 which are arrangedin vertical rows on the desk frame as more fully shown and described inmy aforementioned patent application. With this adjustable arrangementof the drawer slides, various arrangements of differently-sized drawersmaybe obtained to suit the particular requirements of ythe user of thedesk. lt is obvious that such an elastic arrangement of the drawersnecessitates a corresponding adjustability of the locking dogs 40, suchas already described. Y

` Each of the slide bars 46 of a drawer has secured to vit by a screw 50or otherwise, a lock block 5l, which is adapted to engage with the rearface of its companion locking dog 40, as shown at the left hand side ofFig. 4, to lock the companion drawer in place. Y To unlock the drawers,the lock 24 is manually operated to-simultaneously shift 4both push bars27 toward each other. This movement is transmitted by said bars to theactuating arms 31 of the rocking plates 32, causing the latter to beretracted to the position shownV in Fig. 6,and` carrying with them allthe locking dogs 40 which are thus swung entirely clear of therespective Vlockblocks 5l, allowing the various drawers to be freelywithdrawn.V .Y Y

`To lock the closed drawers, the barrel of the lock24 is turned in theopposite' direction, whereby the plates 32 are rocked outwardly to aposition in which the dogs 40 areallowed to project in front of saidlock-V blocks, as shown at the leftiof Fig. 4, preventing withdrawalofthe drawers. Dur-V ing these movements the several locking dogstogether with their companion rocking plate 32 `swing as a singlerunitaboutftherock shaft 34 as an axis. Y i 2 Should a drawer be left-openinadvertently (as shown by full `lines att-he Vright of F 4,) afteroperating'the lockingmechanismfto lock'the drawers, the open drawer needmerely be pushedfin and closed'iwhich action .will first cause thecompanion lock block 5l to trip the companion locking dog 40asideagainst thek resistance of the torsion spring 42, while thecontinue'dinward movement of` the drawer permits the dog to snap infront of said` block,thereby lock-v ing the drawer. Euring .thisoperation, all the parts of the locki-ngrmechanism Yremain stationaryexcept said drawer-tripped'lockingdog.. i j

vThe -desk is alsosometimes equipped with a hinged locker dooi fl- (Fig.7) which is provided in its inner side with a sliding horizontal lockinglbolt `having a suitable spring 56 for projecting it. This boltisadapted to interlock with an vopening 59 in the adjacent wall of the-pedestal or deskframe, :for locking the door, ras shown by dotted linesin F ig. 7. The bolt is normally held in its unlocking position `by acam 57 which is secured to the -front inner corner of the adjacentrocking plate 32 and adapted to projectthrough said opening 59 and pushback said spring-bolt to release thedoor, as shown by full lines in Fig. 7, whenever said -rockingplate is moved to the position in whichlthe dogs 40 release .the desk-drawers. lVhen, "however, said rockingplate is swung to its locking position, said cam 57 is withdrawn lfromthe opening 59, permitting the spring bolt 55 to enter it and lockingthe door. Thus, the door-'lock or bolt is set in locking positionsimultaneously with the movement of the drawer-locking dogs to thecorresponding position.

The spring 37, while normally holding the rocking plate 32 and the rockshaft 34 in position, permits the ready removal of these parts from thepedestal. To do this,

it is only necessary to push said plate upwardly against the pressureofsaid spring, until theV lower end of said rock shaft is withdrawn fromthe lower vbracket 36. By a lateral vmovement of the lower portion ofthe rock-shaft, followed by a downward movement thereof, its upper endis withdrawn from the upper bracket 35 and the lwhole locking mechanism,including said plate, rockshaft and the dogs 40 can be removed from thepedestal leg, access to which is obtained by first removing one of thedeskdrawers 20.

A modification of the locking mechanism is shown Vin Figs. 8-11inclusive. In this case., a cylinder lock Q40 is used as before, theturning of its barrel causing a simul taneous outward or inward movementof a "pair of Apush bars 270. Each of these push bars is provided at itsouter end with an varm 60 which is perforated to receive the inner,downturned end of a thrust link 6l. The outer end of the said link (asbest shown in AFig. Y9) is pivot-ally connected to a rock arm or bracket62 secured to a square, vertical rock shaft 340. The latter is joui'-naled in Vbrackets 350 and 360 secured to the frame of the desk andcarries a. plurality of locking dogs 4 0() which while being `compelledto turn with the shaft are vertically adjustable thereon. To the upperface of each of t-hese dogs is secured a bracket. or brace plate 410through which the rock shaft 340 passes. The latter is provided in oneside with a vertical row-of recesses G3 any one of which is adapted toreceive the head `of a spring bolt 64 for locking v:the correspondingdog to the rock shaft. This bolt is guided inthe lvertical kpart of thebrace 410 and its frontend carries a aU- shaped guide-plate -G whichembraces the shaft so Vas `to center the'bolt thereon. This guide vplateas well as .the bolt Gel is forced toward the rock shaft 340 by thebolt-spring 66 which encircles the bolt and bears with its opposite-ends against said guide-platee` and the inner face of the bracket plate4:10 as best shown in Fig. l0. At its outer end, each of said springbolts has a suitable handle 67 vfor retracting it ,to release thecorresponding dog 400. The dog Acan --then be adjusted up or down on theshaft as inay be required, the same being again locked in place byengaging the bolt with the nearest recess 63 of the shaft.

If it be desired to leave one or `more drawers permanently unlocked, lit;i s only necessary to shift the respect-ivedog or `dogs out of registerwith the corresponding drawer-slides 470. This also applies lto the doesof it-he first-described construction.

ecured to the rear face of each push bar 270 near its outer end,'is Yaspring 69 vwhich bears against the inner lipped end of the adjacentthrust link l61, so as to normally hold the link aganst longitudinalmovement in thearm 60 of the push bar Q'Oand coinpel itto movetherewith, the spring vbeing stiff enough for this purpose. Vhen,however, one of the drawers is inadvertently left open (as indicated bydotted lines vin Fig. l0) after moving the Vdogs to locking position,the spring 69 upon closing said drawer, yields and .permits said link6lV to slide in the arm 6() suliiciently `to allow the dog of saiddrawer to recede under the tripping action of t-he drawer-block, saidspring again projecting said dog to locking position after .the blockhas passed behind it.

1f desired, the center drawer 70 located above ythe knee space :maybelocked simultaneously with the pedestal drawers by the same lockingmechanism. 1n the example shown in the drawings, Figs. l and 5, the

4front wall of said center vdrawer carries av fixed lug il projecting'above its upperedge and adapted to engage behind a verticallyswinginglocking catch 72 in the depressed locking position ofthe latter, .shownby full lines in Fig. 1. rllhis catch lforms the lower arm of a bellcrank which is pivoted at 73 to a longitudinal rail Tl secured to thedesk-top,

`this rail and the adjacent flange T5 of the ver;

into its locking position, while a pin or pro-V j ection 80 carried bythe adjacent thrust bar 27 and engaging the arm 77 retracts said catchclear of the drawer-lug 71 when the thrust bar is shifted inwardly bythe partial rotation of the barrel of the cylinder lock 24. It will nowbe understood that when the locking Vdogs l() ofthe pedestal drawers aremoved to locking position, the pin 8O recedes from the catch-arm 77,allowing the spring 78 to lowerv the catch to locking position. Vhensaid dogsare moved to unlocking position, the pin 80 swings the arm 77toward the lock 24, withdrawing the catch 72 to the correspondingposition, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. l.

To permit this center drawer to be closed Vand automatically locked, incase it should be left open after moving the dogs a() to lockingposition, the catch 72 has a beveled lower edge 81, which causes thecatch to be deflected aside when the drawer lug 71 trips over said edge.

It will be observed that in both embodiments of the invention hereinshown and described, a vertical series of locking dogs is carried by arock member by which they are simultaneously moved into and out oflocking position; that in both cases the locking dogs are individuallyadjustable on said rockmember to adapt them to different drawerarrangements, and that in both cases the dogs are capable of yielding topermit the full closure and automatic locking of any drawers which mayVhave been left open,

after moving the dogs to their locking po- Y vlockingdevices of otherdrawers, thus rendering the lock more convenient.

The lock is also very strong, durable and reliable, particularly onaccount of the arrangement of the locking dogs which extend rearwardlyfrom their rock shafts.

Moreover, by locating the locking mech-l anism at the inner sides of thepedestall drawers instead of at the back thereof, the drawers can beextended to the extreme back of the desk, increasing their capacity.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a desk having a pedestal containing drawers, ofan upright rock member journaled in the' front portion of said pedestalat the inner sides of the drawers, and locking dogs for the drawerscontrolled by said rock member. Y

' 2. The combination with adesk frame and drawers arranged therein, ofan upright rock shaft j ournaled in the front portion of the desk-frame,and substantially horizontal locking dogs extendingV rearwardly fromsaid rock shaft and adapted to interlock at their free rear ends withthe sides of the drawers.

3. In a desk drawer lock, the combination with a desk frame and aplurality of desk drawers arranged therein, of an upright rock membermounted in said frame, a plurality of locking dogs for said drawersmounted on said rock member and vertically adjustable thereon, and meansfor actuating said rock member to move said dogs to locking andunlocking positions, each of said dogs when in locking position beingyieldable to the pressure of a desk drawer independently of theremaining dogs.

4. In a desk .drawer lock, the combination with a desk frame and aplurality of desk drawers arranged therein, of a rock shaft mounted insaid frame, a plurality of locking dogs longitudinally adjustable onsaid shaft and adapted to lock said drawers, a rocking plate bearingagainst said locking dogs for controlling their position, and means foractuating said rocking plate.

5. In a desk drawer lock, the combination with a desk frame and aplurality of desk drawers arranged therein, of a vertical rock shaftmounted in said frame, a plurality of locking dogs vertically adjustableon said rock shaft and adapted tolock said drawers,

a rocking plate pivotally mounted on said frame coaXially with said rockshaft and provided witha verticalrow of retaining devices for. saidlocking dogs, and means for actuating and locking said rocking plate.

6. In a desk drawer lock, the combination with a desk frame and aplurality of desk drawers arranged therein, of an upright rock shaftmounted in said frame, a vertical rocking plate provided with a verticalrow of retaining slots, a plurality of locking dogs mounted on said rockshaft and each adapted to engage with any one of said retaining slots,springs tending to h old said dogs in said slots, and means foractuating and locking said rocking plate. V Y

1. In a desk drawer lock, the combination with a desk frame and aplurality of desk drawers arranged therein, of a vertical rock shaftmounted on said frame, a rocking plate mounted on said rock shaft andprovided with a flange having a vertical row of retaining slots, aplurality of locking dogs vertically adjustable on said rock shaft andmounted to swing thereon, said dogs being adapted to engage in saidslots, torsion springs one for each dog applied to said shaft andtending to hold the dogs in said slots, and means for actuatingyandlocking said rocking plate.V

8. In a desk drawer lock, thecombination with a desk frame andaplurality of desk drawers arranged therein, of a rock shaft removablyjournaled in bearings carried by said desk frame, a verticalrockingplate whose opposite ends are pivoted on said rock shaft andterminate short of the ends thereof, a spring interposed between one endof said plate and the adjacent bearing of said rock shaft for removablyholding the shaft and the rocking plate in place, and a plurality oflocking dogs for the desk drawers mounted on said rock shaft andcontrolled by said rocking plate.

9. In a desk drawer lock, the combination with a desk frame and aplurality of desk drawers arranged therein, of a vertical rock shaftremovably journaled at opposite ends in bearings carried by said deskframe, a vertical rocking plate secured to said rock shaft and providedwith a vertical row of retaining slots, a retaining spring encirclingsaid rock shaft between one of its bearings and the adjacent end of saidrocking plate, locking dogs for the desk drawers adjustably arranged onsaid rock shaft and adapted to engage any one of said retaining slots,springs for yieldingly holding the dogs in said slots, a push bar foractuating said rocking plate, and locking means for said push bar.

l0. In a desk drawer lock, a rock shaft, means for actuating and lockingsaid shaft,

member having means for shifting said door-bolt to unlocking positionwhen said dogs are moved to the corresponding position.

l2. The combination with a desk having pedestals separated by a kneespace, drawers in said pedestals and a drawer above said kneel space,locking dogs for said pedestal drawers, an actuating member for saiddogs carrying a. projection, a locking catch for said knee space drawermounted on the d esk frame and having a retracting arm arranged in thepath of said projection, and a spring tending to move said catch to itslocking position when released by said projection.

ION A. STAFFORD.

